Samurai sheepdog book of many things vol 126

Incremental experience effectively doubles the amount of time
before gaining an actual reward for play.

New Option: Piecemeal Experience
Building off of the idea that characters do not spend their entire
8 hours of rest actually sleeping, piecemeal experience allows
them to earn some modicum of reward when their experience
hits the appropriate thresholds while still leaving more complex
growth to downtime. Players who plan ahead can get a slight
boost to their benefits with this method, and it is left to the GM
if they want to encourage it.
There are three phases to piecemeal experience. The checklist
to the right provides a quick aid when a level is gained.
Immediate Gain: When characters complete an encounter,
they gain the experience immediately. If this would push a
character over the threshold for its level, anything it could get
better in improves automatically (particularly, simple numeric
bonuses). Think of this as the characters gaining a second wind.
They aren’t fully healed, but are taking a moment to breath and
enjoy their success thus far, and it bolsters them to keep going.
In addition, each character gains up to one other benefit
immediately if they already know what they need for the
immediate situation. If adding resurrection to the cleric’s spell list
will help raise a slain ally, it’s obvious enough outside of game that
no time is lost in adding it. In game, the cleric’s god has seen fit
to bless her with this now so that she and her allies can continue
their quest. If having a rank in Knowledge (dungeoneering) allows
the rogue to make a new check to remember something, it may
dawn on him as he’s wiping blood from his dagger.
Of note, spells per day increasing and potentially granting
access to a new spell level, doesn’t necessarily mean a character

must immediately start looking up those spells. In the interim,
allow spontaneous casters (sorcerers
and the like) to use those spell
slots for metamagic spells or to
cast lower level spells. Wizards,
clerics, and other casters might
be allowed to regain a couple spells
they already had prepared and/or cast
in those slots until they rest.
Practice During Rest: When the party
gets a couple hours to relax after
gaining a level using piecemeal
experience, they can use that time
to place the remainder of their
skill points, pick a remaining
new spell or two that they’ve
been researching, gain a feat
they were already planning
on gaining, or increase their
ability score if it would become
even.
Quick-to-function
class
features, such as evasion, fast
movement, or uncanny dodge
can be gained during rest as well
because they can be understood at a
glance by a GM and most players. This
piece functions on a case-by-case basis, but
the general rule should be if a player has to read

what it does to understand fully, it should be pushed
to end of session/downtime.

Piecemeal Experience Checklist

Immediate Gain
Attack Bonus
Hit Points
Saving Throws
Spells per Day/Immediately Helpful Spells
Class Feature Increase
Immediately Beneficial Skill Ranks
When Resting
Spells Known/Learned by Class
Predetermined Feat
Ability Score Increases
Quick-to-Function Class Features
Remaining Skill Ranks
End of Session/Downtime
Remaining Class Features
Feats
Researched/Recovered Spells
Retraining
Acquiring/Spending Gold (if able)
Acquiring/Changing Companions

End of Session/Downtime: Anything that would require a
player to actually spend more than a minute or two looking at
a book or website is put off until the end of a session or during
downtime once the adventure is complete. This includes gaining

a new class feature that must be either chosen at length (rogue
talents or barbarian rage powers) or hasn’t already been
gained by the class in some capacity (new bloodline
powers, leveling up an animal companion or familiar).
This is also the perfect time to retrain anything that
didn’t work out during a previous level, if that option
is available.

Character Kits

The following kits are available
to any character who meet their
prerequisites. If a level is required
for a specific part of the kit, it will be
noted in the prerequisites. Options
available from Volumes 1 and 2 are
marked with a v1 or v2,respectively.
The earliest level listed to have
a full kit is for most characters.
Humans and fighters tend to
have it easier when it comes to
meeting prerequisites for feats,
especially with combat-oriented kits.
As with anything, these character
kits are intended as suggestions
meant to save time when leveling up
or building a new character. You are
always welcome to change out
one or more things listed here
if you find something that suits

your playstyle better.

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